Admirals recap

By Corine Gatti

April 2nd, 2002

Men..

Report to your respective corners..

No, it¡¦s not a Tyson fight..

It’s what Matt Henderson called a desperate attempt to gain dignity in Admirals 5-1 win over the Penguins last Friday night. Without a pause, “We beat them on the board and on the ice and instigating fights and they got what they deserves,” said Henderson who recorded two goals and a helper in the third period.

Before the 122 penalty marathon, Ty Jones grabbed the first goal of the game one minute in the second period. Henderson joined his teammate with his 19 goal of the season when the rubber bounced over the glove of Sebastian Caron 2:27.

A handful of squirmishes were sparked by a clash of fists from winger Shawn Thornton and Darcy Verot would even make Mike Tyson look respectable. Trent Yawney and Penguins’ Glenn Patrick sealed the game with an exchange of looks and words .

The Penguins who are out of contention this year battled back, but the Admirals thawed any chances with another goal at the end of the stanza with a top shelf by Valeri Zelepukin. Norfolk is seven points ahead of Hershey and nine points above the Philadelphia Phantoms in the southern Division, added two goal s before the a final wrap.”Yea, there was too much testosterone out there tonight, but we need to move on and focus on our next game (Philadelphia on Saturday night),” said Peluso whose goal was on the first power play of the night.

Philadelphia Phantoms 4 Norfolk Admirals 2

With only two games left of the regular season and eight consecutive wins on the books–Norfolk who was somewhat hot offensively cooled down with its first loss since mid-March. We can’t win every game and the fact that we clinched a playoff spot is very exciting to us, said Ajay Baines who had an assist in the teams first lost in the last eight games.

Matt Henderson who is on a three-game point streak, struck the tip of Phantoms goalie Neil Little’s stick and put Norfolk on the board. Shortly after, Norfolk was unable to clear their zone and Dan Peters found the back of Michael Leighton’s net at 6:48. Philly who is 10-6-7 when tied after the second period added and who recently ended a four-game skid sent back-to-back goals before the third intermission by center Greg Koehler and blueliner John Slaney in front of an announced crowd of 4,766. Norfolk who is 0-16-7 when tied after the second period, attempted to hold on when Jim Campbell and Nolan Baumgartner each had a goal making 3-2 but Phantoms’ unassisted goal sealed the Admirals first home lost since March 13.